Houston’s Taliban Case Has its First Verdict

Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, one of four Muslim men charged in the so-called Houston Taliban case, was sentenced today to 10 months in prison.

The men were arrested in November and accused of training to join the Taliban’s fight against U.S.-led forces overseas.

Qazi was convicted in January of unlawful possession of a firearm. He waived his right to a jury trial, opting for a decision from U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal. She found him guilty in 15 minutes.

A July 2005 camping trip in Willis, north of Conroe, was part of a government set up using two informants to nab men who talked of fighting with the terrorist group. FBI agents used Qazi’s acknowledgment that “he overheard statements over that weekend” to connect him to the plot.

Qazi, a Pakistani, appears in photographs with a semi-automatic weapon. At the time, he was attending Houston Community College on a student visa.

While prosecutors contend that federal law prohibits someone who is not a U.S. citizen from possessing a firearm, federal public defender Brent Newton argued that his client was not criminally liable because he didn’t know he could not hold or shoot a gun.

Qazi’s supporters say he simply went on a weekend shooting trip, which is common recreation in Texas.

Kobie Williams, 34, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, admitting to paramilitary training and making financial contributions to the Taliban. The U.S. citizen known as Abdul Kabir or Abdul Kabeer was a Rice University engineering technician enrolled at the University of Houston-Downtown. He is to be sentenced in October.

Adnan Mirza, Qazi’s cousin, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States by making donations to the terrorist organization and three illegal firearms possession charges. The 30-year-old former HCC student, who was born in Pakistan, is scheduled for trial in October.

Syed Maaz Shah, a 19-year-old who was attending University of Texas at Dallas on a student visa, is charged with two weapons violations. Also a Pakistani, his trial is set to begin Monday.

6 Comments on “Houston’s Taliban Case Has its First Verdict”

You think it’s time to give the old student visa program a little lookover already? After 9/11 this giant loophole should have been plugged up but here it is, wide as ever. No wonder the jihadists laugh at us-we must be as stupid as we appear to them.

IFL:
I don’t even live in the Caliphate of Minnesota (well, I did in 7th grade), and I have to put up with these dingleberries.
You would think that if the government is going to let someone come over on a student visa, they wouldn’t be attending a community college. No offense to the CC folks in the world; but most folks are there because it is —
1.) cheaper than universities
2.) a stepping stone to univerisity entrance
3.) they are learning a trade skill

We don’t need any trade labor from Paki – we have Mexico for that
They get a free ride, so cost is not a concern

That means they are either not smart enough to pass an entrance exam, or incapable of understanding it. Either way, why would we import this kind of burden onto our society? We should go pick random people off the street and send them to school for free.

Again, not trying to put down the CC folks. just saying that if I am going to import something, it should be something that is beyond reproach.

Well Blackdog, I am astonished at how many of these fine folk want to come here to study. Have they not universities and colleges in the beloved ummah? Oh yeah-they do. For religious training. To learn useful things these wonderful folk go West. Then they thank the West by putting their education to ingenius uses. Like flying planes into buildings and making more efficient bombs.

This asinine nonsense needs to stop. You’re right-if we educate anyone, let’s put our own people into school. The peaceful ones can stay home and learn more about Mr. Perfect and how wonderful he was for humanity. We certainly don’t need them here-cancel the student visa program. Or at least overhaul it.